All posts by jtannian

In financial terms, leverage acts as a multiplier. It allows an individual to purchase or invest in more by borrowing. In the mechanical world, leverage can produce powerful effects. Archimedes once said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”

In terms of a home mortgage, envision that your monthly payments as the small force being applied to one end of a lever. That small amount of cash can produce enough lift (cash from the bank) to purchase your home.

I’m a software developer by trade and I’ve considered some of the deeper questions in life. You too have likely wondered whether the Lord used a procedural or object-oriented language when designing and building our world. If this question has kept you up at night, read on and rest well tonight. Continue reading Creation Story for Nerds Only→

This Christmas, we hope you take time to catch your breath, take a step back, and stand on your head. Don’t really stand on your head but maybe stand the world on its head and see something from a new perspective. Below is a Christmas poem from 2009. I shared it with friends and family and wanted to share it again. Hope you enjoy.

This Christmas I would like to offer you a special. A two for one blessing or gift!

1 A special for you.

For the next several days of early December I want to offer you the Kindle edition of Modern Parables, all 25 stories for only 99 pennies. This book could possibly help you live a wiser life financially while entertaining you with stories that will engage your heart and mind.

2 A special for others.

100% of my all my proceeds between December 1st and Christmas will be donated to a charity. That’s right all my royalties will be given to others. It’s really your gift to people who need a bit of help.

Consider buying a print copy as a gift! It’s under $10 and it will bless someone in need.

A “Charley Brown Christmas” the TV special that almost wasn’t. The TV executives didn’t like several things about the show. Bill Melendez the producer and director had second thoughts about the program as well. If Charles Shultz had listened to their advice, it would have robbed the special of its impact.

They wanted to add a laugh track, so we knew what was funny.

They weren’t happy with the children’s voices. Adults could do better.

The background jazz music didn’t feel right for a kid’s program.

CBS executives thought the reading from Luke might be a turn off, using the King James Version to top it off.

How do you escape from bondage? You need to be set free! I believe our culture has many of us ensnared in materialism. Most of us are held captive in this ‘rat race‘ of life.

I’ve been trying to wedge myself free from this entanglement. But I’ve been only modestly successful. The American world I live in doesn’t make it easy.

Honestly, do you think our Christian holiday of Christmas shows
signs of infection? Has materialism impacted our celebration of
the birth of God’s son?

How did the Israelites get set free from Pharaoh? Did they learn
to make bricks more effectively? Did they learn to manage their
work day more efficiently so they could spend more time at homes
with their family and worshiping Jehovah?

NO!

Freedom requires more than managing your bondage. True financial
freedom doesn’t just require a budget and planning. It requires you to shift your thinking from pursuing every want with pursuing the intangibles – love and friendship. It requires you to shift from an attitude of minimal giving to joyful giving.

This isn’t easy in our culture today. We need to change our
attitudes about money. Financial Freedom doesn’t end with a healthy budget. If we were truly financially free, we would naturally
live within our means. The Lord would be our shepherd and we
would not want.

If you purchase or read Modern Parables for Financial Freedom,
don’t think it will teach you about finances, budgeting,
investing. The hope is it will help you to reconsider your
attitudes about money and break the bondage of materialism.

When speaking of diets most people think about their weight. There is good reason we should care about our weight. Obesity is associated with many health issues, to include cancer and heart disease. But to address weight issues we need to change our food intake and that’s not so easy.

Several years ago I lost over 40 pounds on a diet. While on this diet I could see parallels between improving my food intake and improving my spiritual intake.

How is your financial health? Are you in debt? It seems that the same steps that are necessary for weight loss can also be applied to faith and financial improvement as well.

Here are 7 concrete steps you can take on journey for weight loss, spiritual health or debt free living.